[7] During her racing career, Dead Certain was owned by Commander G G "Toby" Marten and trained by David Elsworth (best known for handling the outstanding steeplechaser Desert Orchid) at Whitsbury near Fordingbridge in Hampshire.

Dead Certain was a very temperamental and difficult filly to train: Elsworth recalled "She was the kind that you really needed to keep a lid on, Peter Maughan and Rodney Boult (senior members of the stable staff) did a great job, otherwise she'd have boiled over".

[8] Dead Certain began her racing career in the five furlong Lady Caroline Stakes at Windsor Racecourse on 8 May 1989 in which she started 11/10 favourite but was beaten two lengths into second by the Richard Hannon-trained Between the Sticks.

[10] In the Cherry Hinton Stakes at Newmarket Racecourse in July, Dead Certain was moved up to six furlongs for the first time and started third favourite behind the highly regarded Chimes of Freedom.

[11] On 4 October at Newmarket, Dead Certain was one of an eleven horse field to contest the Cheveley Park Stakes, which was then the only Group One race in Britain restricted to juvenile fillies.

[12] On her three-year-old debut, Dead Certain was stepped up in distance for the Fred Darling Stakes (a trial race for the 1000 Guineas) over seven furlongs at Newbury Racecourse in April.

In the Haydock Sprint Cup on 8 September she started third favourite behind Dayjur and Royal Academy but refused to co-operate with her jockey Alan Munro, throwing her head in the air and finishing tailed-off last of the nine runners.

In the Diadem Stakes three weeks later she ran well for half a mile but faded quickly and finished twelfth of the fourteen runners behind the French-trained colt Ron's Victory.